Find out why each website links to you

Go through the websites that link to you and sort each one by how the link happened: a directory or listing, a supplier or manufacturer, a customer or project, a news story or article, a resource page, or something else.

Most established businesses earned many of their links without ever asking. Knowing which kind of link your business attracts naturally tells you exactly which kind to pursue on purpose, instead of guessing or sending cold emails.

How to do it

1. 1
   Start from your exported list

   Use the Top linking sites export from the previous mission. Add a column called “How we got it”.
2. 2
   Visit the linking page for each site

   Search Console’s Links report shows the exact page. Open it and see why you are mentioned: a listing, a dealer list, a project credit, an article, a resource list.
3. 3
   Group and count

   Count how many websites fall in each group. Directories, suppliers, customers, press, resources, and other.
4. 4
   Pick your strongest group

   The biggest group is the mechanism that already works for you. The next backlink missions repeat it: more of the same kind of listing, more supplier pages, more project credits.